Of Course Charles Barkley Has Something to Say About Mark McGwire

Even when Barkley is not at his best, we still love hearing what he has to say no matter what the topic. The Chuckster weighed in yesterday on the recent buzz surrounding Mark McGwire and the juice. Another Philly favorite, John Kruk's name came up.

From an interview Sir Charles did with Dan LeBatard’s 790 The Ticket show in Miami on Tuesday.

On whether or not he thinks guys who used steroids in baseball should be Hall-of-Famers:

“I think that Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Roger
Clemens…I think those guys should all go into the Hall-of-Fame and let
me explain why. We know there is at least one list that has 104 people
right? (Host: Yes) Clearly there was more than 104. My problem with
the whole era is these are the only guys that are going to get
penalized, the Hall-of-Famers. All the other guys played in that era
and I heard John Kruk and I like John Kruk he said ‘well I was clean.’
Well he still benefited by the financial structure. All the players
during that era all benefited through the financial structure. But my
biggest problem is, like I was saying, to penalize four guys and keep
them out of the Hall-of-Fame when clearly a bunch of guys were doing it
– we know of at least 104 and clearly there was more – to penalize four
guys and don’t put them in the Hall-of-Fame when a bunch were doing it,
I think that’s totally unfair.”

Sure, Kruk may have made a little extra dough because of the trickle-down effect of it all, but that doesn't put him in the same boat as a flat out cheater. I kind of see Chuck's point that the would-be Hall of Famers take the brunt of the blame, but that's simply a by product of people actually caring about records and the best to ever play the game. Should we chastise Lenny Dykstra for hitting 19 home runs in 1993 instead of, say, 10? Probably, but people don't put those kind of achievements into the same conversation as those of the legends of the game like Ruth and Maris.

You mess with the legends of the game, we care. You mess with mediocrity, not so much. That's just the way it is.